Category Archives: Canada

Late fall in Canada is a frustrating window of time – whitewater is disappearing but there is not enough snow to go snowboarding. Normally we would just drive further south in search of warm weather and more whitewater to solve that problem but this year we tried something new – sticking around and dirt biking…

After much lobbying from Hunter a set of Honda CRF 150’s made it into the toy box this year.

Although we’re not huge fans of logging for the damage that it can do, the upside is great trails into some really scenic areas!

You just have to look past all the clear-cutting debris…

It’s been fun trying something new – I’m sure there will be many more adventures to come next spring!

This post was originally published at: http://jacksonkayak.com/blog/2018/05/09/paddling-moms-rock/

With mothers day right around the corner, I wanted to take a moment and celebrate kayak moms, and most specifically the paddling kayak mom. Paddling kayak mom’s are lucky as they have a choice…similar to sports like hockey, soccer or swimming, a kayak mom can choose to be the shuttle driver and stand watching from the riverside OR they can chose to get in a kayak/canoe and get out on the river with their kids and their family.

Those are the moms that we are honouring today – the paddling mom. Those mom’s are a varied group – some were paddlers before their kids and continued seamlessly while their kids were young through to when they were able to get them on the water. Some were paddlers before their kids and then took a break from the sport while their kids were little, finding it again when their kids were old enough to get involved. And some jumped into the sport with both feet as their kids were learning.

These moms are amazing role models that deserve to be celebrated. They are growing a whole new generation of paddlers. They are role modelling active, healthy living and family time. They are modelling bravery and life long learning. And they are demonstrating humility and team spirit, especially as their kids surpass them. They get to be there for the lows when their children have an energy bonk and crash in the middle of the river run or stand in tears when scouting a rapid that they are terrified of. They also get to be there for the highs of that first surf, that first big drop or must make move. Sometimes they are right there in the middle of the run with their child and sometimes they have portaged the feature and are providing safety. Either way – these are now shared memories and moments that will last a lifetime.

Here are a few of the amazing mom’s that are part of the Jackson Kayak team, and their stories behind why they chose to get in the water with their families.

“I love paddling with my family for the simple fact that we are all together conquering the same hurdles, enjoying the same conquests and running the gamut of emotions at the same time. It’s pretty sweet where on any given day, I can be coached by my 15m 17 & 20 year old sons and then turn around and look like I know what I’m doing when I give the same advice to my 13, 12, 10 and 8 year old kiddos!” Susie Kellogg’

“I began paddling because my family loves to paddle and I love to spend time with my family. I love to see them try new things and improve in their skills and joke and have fun together on the river. Over time, my reason for paddling has changed a bit. Now I paddle for myself as well. I like to try new things and feel the sense of accomplishment as I improve in my skills. I love the way paddling brings our family together, and the super people we meet through the sport, but I also love it for the growth and fun that I have on the river.” Carol Walker

Where else can you immerse your family in solitude, with lessons in environment, ecology, hydrology, geology, etc.. You learn to listen, trust, follow directions – and it never ends. Every river is different, and every level is a new river. To watch your child grow on the water, learn the basic skills, and follow you – then lead you – as they grow in confidence and decision making skills, accepting risk with confidence, and making choices to walk, based on their ability and tenacity, and then realize they have surpassed you in, not only paddling, but the understanding and power of the water, and the confidence to run things you never dreamed of. That’s when you know you have raised your child the right way. When my daughter runs class 5 rivers, I’m often asked if I’m scared or worried – and I’m not. Because the river has raised her to be the person she is, and I beam with pride to know this is a direction we turned her to… and she has the knowledge, strength, confidence and skill to head down, making good decisions as she goes. These lessons transfer to a lot of life situations, and I cherish watching her handle them with poise, strength and grace. As a couple, and a family, we have trust, communication, and respect for each other and the environment, all lessons encouraged by the river, so yes, we love to paddle together! Stephanie Viselli

I love being on the water, not only with my family, but with other families. I love nothing more than seeing my kids have fun with other kids on the water while learning and challenging their skills. My favorite moments are the flat waters in between where we connect and share experiences as parents and families. I always relish in the magic of these moments never wanting them to end. Paddling with my family is our bond. We are unconnected, unplugged, not being entertained, but rather creating our own moments. I’ll never forget when I saw Jackie get her first combat rolls in the pool session. Maddie’s slug roll – no hand roll on the Ottawa. The magic is that I am not on the sideline watching as a fan, but that I am as much in the moment with them on the water as a participant in the same sport. I get to play and we get to play together. Stace Kimmel

Turning moments into lasting memories, with my family, is the reason that I kayak. Not only does this sport keep me pushing myself, but the unplugged time on the rivers, with my family, creates enjoyment that I have not been able to duplicate in any other activity. Melissa Hargrove

If you are currently a riverside kayak mom – take the opportunity to get out with your family, even just for a flat water paddle, this year for Mother’s Day. If your family doesn’t kayak and you happen to be reading this – definitely give it a try. Most kayak shops offer lessons, which can be a great way to start on the water as a family together.

For us, this will be a life long sport – something we come together to do and something we do separately. It’s a shared passion, with a shared language, that allows us to meet new people, explore new places and get outside as often as possible.

This post was initially posted at https://www.levelsix.com/blogs/blog/kicking-off-the-kayaking-season-build-progression-into-your-goals

Progression in kayaking is an amazing, terrifying and rewarding activity. It’s HARD sometimes and yet oh so worth it…

With a fresh paddling season upon us, this is a great time to think about what your goals are for the year. It’s also a great time to be kind and generous to yourself and remember that your season does not have to be full of “go big or go home” moments. First and foremost, kayaking is supposed to be fun. Consider having progression as a goal in itself.

We’ve learned a few tips for progression that I wanted to share:

1) If at all possible, have a home river that you can use for your progression benchmark. It is great to have a place where you are highly comfortable to measure your improvement against. Is that ferry easier than it was a month ago now that you’ve challenged yourself on some other rivers? Can you run the harder sneak and feel in control the whole time after having consistently run the easier line? What one thing can you do on this run that is different from your normal runs?

2) Find people that you trust to paddle with that will support your efforts to stretch yourself. Will they take the easier lines down a new river section for you to expand your experiences? Will they teach you how to boof that one tricky feature on your home river? They can be your biggest cheerleader and you need that when you are pushing yourself. Progression means growing, and growing often means feeling uncomfortable, which leads to a whole lot of adrenaline running through your system, which can be exhausting and overwhelming. Hence the very valuable external support.

Tim & Hunter Vincent in the Ottawa River

3) Take your time and move at your own pace. Progress doesn’t have to be linear. We have been to Kelly’s Whitewater Park in Cascade Idaho 3 times now. The first time I (Lee) didn’t go in the top hole at all. Looked at it and said, “no thank you”. The second time I went in it, got worked and again said “no thank you” for a repeat adventure. Our third trip was in late June of last year. The weather was warm and I decided that I was going to push myself. My goal was to be comfortably surfing in it by the end of our visit, which was 10 days long. I spent the first five days in “get to know you” mode. The most logical approach to the wave was through a big foamy hole and it terrified me so I practiced dropping in from up top, from entering on the far side and by just paddling into the back of the foamy hole but not actually going into the trough. Five days in and I was starting to get the feel for the foamy stuff so started dropping into the hole and just side surfing. Days 6-9 were works in progress with some big high 5’s and a few topsy-turvy beatings that had me call it a day. Day ten and I closed off my visit with entering through the hole side, front surfing the wave under control, got a spin and back surf and even had an unintended wave loop.

4) Work on the mental side of things as much as the technical and physical. Why is my 14 years old progressing faster than me? He’s more willing to throw himself into a feature and work it out than I am. Case in point is he was surfing the top feature at Kelly’s on our first trip. It was his first time surfing in a hole that big and he got stuck in a side surf, had that terrified look and feeling of fear about how am I going to get out, got worked and swam. But got back in again and carried on. Many of us adults have stronger recall of that uncomfortable feeling and don’t jump up and down to replicate it. Anna Lesveque wrote a great article on paddling resilience that is worth a read for additional tips in this area (https://mindbodypaddle.com/8287/build-emotional-resilience-water/).

5) A day on the water is better than not going out on the water. If you aren’t feeling it or the run your friends are running is just too daunting, take a look for a way to still get out and do something on the water. Can you drive shuttle and then put in from the take out and paddle up to meet them on an easier section of whitewater? Can you find a place where you can go back to basics and spend time finding the joy in jet ferries or zen-like front surfing? Can you find a nice eddy or lake and practice your flatwater skills?

Bonus: embrace the swim. It happens to everyone for one reason or another. Don’t beat yourself up. Shake your head, self-rescue, smile and then get back out there!

This post was originally published at: http://jacksonkayak.com/blog/2018/04/04/tips-for-if-when-your-kid-becomes-a-better-kayaker-than-you/

Progression in kayaking is an amazing, terrifying and rewarding activity. It’s HARD and yet oh so worth it…

Last fall there was a role swap in our family. I went from 2nd best, and the one looking out for the kid, to comfortably in 3rd place with the 14 year old kid now looking out for me.

I realized this in the late fall when we were paddling a new river and all of a sudden I was the one sandwiched in the middle rather than at the back or the front.

How did we get here was the question running through my mind at that point.

If we rewind 5 years, I had been back into kayaking for a year or two and we were teaching Hunter how to kayak. He was picking things up pretty quickly and, thanks to some creative teaching by Tim, was starting to front surf waves confidently. Watching him I realized that I was not progressing at the same pace and that if I didn’t do anything different I was going to get surpassed by my 10 year old. I was ok with getting surpassed at some point, but not that early on in the game. I picked up my socks and sent myself off to immersion kayak camp at Endless Adventures in Crescent Valley, BC where the weather and the water are warm (cold Yukon water was definitely a barrier for me). It was great to spend a week focused solely on myself and pushing my comfort zone, both mentally and physically.

That was a great jump start for the following year and then two years ago I took another step and attended EJ Week at Wilderness Tours on the Ottawa River. Another warm weather/water destination and the features definitely felt like a HUGE step up for me, especially in my first playboat. I had fabulous moments and sucky moments, with plenty of time spent swimming, but I walked away with a step function increase in my own mental confidence. I went home to our local hole and it looked so small and manageable in comparison. For the first time ever, I threw myself into the hole and was learning to loop by the end of the summer.

Last year we were on the road paddling from mid April through the end of November. We covered a number of new rivers and some old favourites as well. Through all of that, I’ve learned a few tips for progression that I wanted to share:

1) If at all possible, have a home river that you can use for your progression benchmark. It is great to have a place where you are highly comfortable to measure your improvement against. Is that ferry easier than it was a month ago now that you’ve challenged yourself on some other rivers? Can you run the harder sneak and feel in control the whole time after having consistently run the easier line? What one thing can you do on this run that is different from your normal runs?

2) Find people that you trust to paddle with that will support your efforts to stretch yourself. Will they take the easier lines down a new river section for you to expand your experiences? Will they teach you how to boof that one tricky feature on your home river? They can be your biggest cheerleader and you need that when you are pushing yourself. Progression means growing, and growing often means feeling uncomfortable, which leads to a whole lot of adrenaline running through your system, which can be exhausting and overwhelming. Hence the very valuable external support.

3) Take your time and move at your own pace. Progress doesn’t have to be linear. We have been to Kelly’s Whitewater Park in Cascade Idaho 3 times now. The first time I didn’t go in the top hole at all. Looked at it and said “no thank you”. The second time I went in it, got worked and again said “no thank you” for a repeat adventure. Our third trip was in late June of last year. The weather was warm and I decided that I was going to push myself. My goal was to be comfortably surfing in it by the end of our visit, which was 10 days long. I spent the first five days in “get to know you” mode. The most logical approach to the wave was through a big foamy hole and it terrified me so I practiced dropping in from up top, from entering on the far side and from by just paddling into the back of the foamy hole but not actually going into the trough. Five days in and I was starting to get the feel for the foamy stuff so started dropping into the hole and just side surfing. Days 6-9 were works in progress with some big high 5’s and a few topsy turvy beatings that had me call it a day. Day ten and I closed off my visit with entering through the hole side, front surfing the wave under control, got a spin and back surf and even had an unintended wave loop.

4) Work on the mental side of things as much as the technical and physical. Why is my 14 year old progressing faster than me? He’s more willing to throw himself into a feature and work it out than I am. Case in point is he was surfing the top feature at Kelly’s on our first trip. It was his first time surfing in a hole that big and he got stuck in a side surf, had that terrified look and feeling of fear about how am I going to get out, got worked and swam. But got back in again and carried on. Many of us adults have stronger recall of that uncomfortable feeling and don’t jump up and down to replicate it. Anna Lesveque wrote a great article on paddling resilience that is worth a read for additional tips in this area (https://mindbodypaddle.com/8287/build-emotional-resilience-water/).

5) A day on the water is better than not going out on the water. If you aren’t feeling it or the run your friends are running is just too daunting, take a look for a way to still get out and do something on the water. Can you drive shuttle and then put in from the take out and paddle up to meet them on an easier section of whitewater? Can you find a place where you can go back to basics and spend time finding the joy in jet ferries or zen like front surfing?

Bonus: embrace the swim. It happens to everyone for one reason or another. Don’t beat yourself up. Shake your head, self-rescue, smile and then get back out there!

This summer Hunter discovered the job of “arborist” – a career choice that he knew nothing about until spending time with Grandpa and learning to cut down trees.

Grandpa Bob lives along the Thames River outside of London, Ontario. He is a marathon canoeist (remember the crazy 200km race we crewed for…) and very passionate about his canoeing. He is the guy that goes out and gets rid of all of the dead fall in the river so that everyone else can have a fun day out canoeing.

These adventures out into the river are a combination of canoeing (you have to paddle both upstream and downstream to get to the trees) and tree climbing/cutting. A great cross training activity, especially because it involves saws, knives and things with engines!

It also involves balance and core strength for when you are out on thin branches hanging over the river attempting to cut other logs…

Grandpa is definitely the resident expert at this but… don’t ask him how many saws he has dropped or lost in the river over the years 🙂 Let’s just say that he’s quite committed to the river, in more ways than one.

It was a pretty awesome way to learn new skills, get out on the water and have fun with family this summer.

Hunter would also like people to know that he’s available for any and all arborist work – he’s working on collecting his own set of tools and is only a phone call away!